Well, I Didn't Trip

It's over, finally. After four and a half years, I now hold a diploma from the University of Nebraska. It is an amazing feeling. At first I didn't think I would feel any differently, but I do. It is a Monday at 11:15, and I am doing...nothing. Wow. It also really hit me yesterday afternoon when Mom and I were driving around campus. She is putting together something for me for Christmas/graduation and needed some pictures, so she asked me what the things were that I truly wanted to remember from campus. We took pictures by Memorial, Teachers College, Mueller Tower, Burnett, Pound, Sandoz, and Devaney because those are the places that were significant - I honestly should have had a picture of Kauffman too! Anyway, it got to me then - I won't enter some of the buildings again because I have no reason to. I am a college graduate. It sounds funny to say, like I almost don't believe it has actually happened, but it was great!

The ceremony itself went a lot faster than I expected. We started at 9:30 and were done at 11:15. Hey, two days ago exactly, I was a college graduate! It is still sinking in, cut me some slack. I had a great graduation party (and no, it was not at the apartment, I said it was a GREAT party and we all know it would not have been fun had it been here, ha ha) at the hotel my family stayed at. A lot of friends stopped by and there are some fun pictures posted on Facebook so I am not going to bother putting them here when they are already elsewhere on the Internet. I got a lot of great gifts too, of course, but one of the best presents I never expected was nothing material at all. Drake, the family, and I were getting ready to leave Devaney after the ceremony and my phone starts ringing. I didn't recognize the number but answered anyway and didn't hear anyone on the other end. This person called back four times and I was getting annoyed because I thought someone was pranking me and finally I stayed on the line a little longer and after a delay I hear a voice say, "Don't hang up on me Sarah!" At first I didn't believe who it was, because come on, this guy couldn't remember an important date to save his life. Yet, no doubt, there's no way I would ever forget his voice. I asked anyway who it was, just out of disbelief, and sure enough, all the way from Ramadi, Iraq, Adam had called to congratulate me. Good timing too, but wow. It was one of the most thoughtful things he's ever done - amazing how he gets to be so thoughtful AFTER we break up. But it was good just to hear his voice again since I hadn't seen him for almost a year - it will actually be a whole year as of New year's Eve. We talked for about fifteen minutes and then he had to go, but he has Internet sometimes, so we will be able to talk on messenger. It was a great gift, definitely.

All around, the gifts were pretty awesome and JohnRoss and Amanda each brought me a 40 of King Cobra! Yes! Awesome. But everyone was really thoughtful and I have a ton of thank yous to start writing because it was quite possibly one of the greatest days of my life - I know I say that a lot, so I guess I am blessed enough to have a great life.

I am leaving for home sometime this week, not sure exactly when. It'll be nice to be home for a while, because let's face it, living in this apartment sucks. But hey, not much that can be done about it, because you can only make the same request so many times before you realize, as Britt put it, "People are too dumb to comprehend simple English". She is pretty great with words.

Speaking of Britt, after the graduation party that night a bunch of us went to see Wedding Crashers. It's not my favorite film by those guys, but I did like it, and it was funny. Like my mother, I am not a big Owen Wilson fan, I like Luke better, but unfortunately he was not in it. However, Will Ferrell was in it at the end and I didn't know it beforehand, so it made the movie that much better - and his character's name was Chaz, which made me laugh even more.

Speaking of Chaz, Teetz was not at my graduation party because he went home on Friday - he missed Cracker Barrell AND IHOP. He is going to be so sorry when he hears about that, because he loves those places and every time my family has been here, he and (usually) Britt have always come with us. On Friday though, Britt was also gone because she was in Kearney for UNK's graduation. She and Kellie (her sister) both got back in time on Saturday though for my party, and they went with Bailie and I to see the movie.

That's about all for now. It's nice to not have anything to do until I want to do something - this feeling is great. I know it means loans will start soon, so I should probably talk to Bailie about consolidating...ick.